Apple and other tech firms have been accused of aiding modern slavery in Kuwait. BBC News Arabic found apps that allow Kuwaiti families to buy women to work as domestic servants for just a few thousand dollars available on the iOS apps store and Google Play Store. Sales were also conducted over Instagram and e-commerce platforms such as 4Sale.
Holding Silicon Valley Accountable for Slavery
Urmila Bhoola, the UN special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, said:
What they are doing is promoting an online slave market. If Google, Apple, Facebook or any other companies are hosting apps like these, they have to be held accountable.
This kind of activity is a clear breach of terms and conditions set out in the app stores. Both Apple and Google said they were working with app developers to stop the illegal activity. Facebook, meanwhile, said it had banned the hashtags being used to sell the women on Instagram, which it owns.